


We All Need Someone To Stay

by thesonder



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Ficlet, Hugs, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Self-Harm, Mental Breakdown, Mental Health Issues, Natasha Romanov Needs a Hug, Protective Steve Rogers, Short One Shot, Triggers, Whump
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-18
Updated: 2020-12-18
Packaged: 2021-03-10 19:14:22
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 533
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28152198
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/thesonder/pseuds/thesonder
Summary: You've been fighting the memory, all on your ownNothing worsens, nothing growsI know how it feels being by yourself in the rainWe all need someone to stay.Natasha is broken, and cannot be fixed. Then one man comes along and changes everything. And it turns out she was never alone.
Relationships: Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov
Kudos: 30





	We All Need Someone To Stay

**Author's Note:**

> TRIGGER WARNING for scenes of implied/referenced/explicit self harm, depression and emotional breakdown. DO NOT read if this will make you upset, it's the last thing I want to do.  
> I wrote this a good few months ago to take out some emotions, and I've decided to share it because I thought it was important to show how we all need someone sometimes, and that's okay.  
> Also written to the iconic universal romanogers song, Someone to Stay.

Steve wakes with a start. When he turns to his side to check the time, he sees it is 12am. He has no idea why he woke up until he hears the muffled sobs from next door, accompanied by quiet, broken screams. That's Nat's room. Steve's heart plummets into his stomach, and he is out of bed in under a second, rapidly but quietly opening his door and moving close against hers to hear her. She's gasping for breath, and Steve can hear the raw pain in every sob she tries to hide. Resigned, he opens the door quietly, calling, "Nat?"  
After no answer, he enters, and the sight that greets him makes his heart break.  
Natasha sits hunched up against a far wall, arms held close to her chest, but even in the near darkness Steve can see the blood that runs down towards her elbows. The razor blade she holds in her fist glints dangerously in the dim light. When Natasha sees Steve, her breathing becomes more ragged and she starts crying louder.  
Steve rushes over and envelopes Natasha in his arms.  
"Oh, Nat." he murmurs. After holding her tight against him for a long moment, he gets to his feet and gently relinquishes the blade from Natasha's grip. She attempts to hold on for a brief second, but Steve prises it away with a kiss on her forehead, murmuring soothing words.  
Once he has it in his hands, he heads to the bathroom, where he gathers a wet cloth, bandages and disposes of the blade safely in the bin. When he arrives back in the main room, Natasha's head is hanging as she whimpers and sobs. He kneels down on the floor and gently picks her up, sitting where she used to be with Natasha in his lap. As her head buries in his shoulder, he gently cleans her wounds and bandages them up, his hands strong and delicate. Loving, and supporting. When he is done, he tucks her arms back against her chest in a comforting gesture, and puts his arms around her as she breaks down into his shirt.  
Steve rubs her back slowly as she chokes and gasps for air, just letting her get it out. He kisses her flaming red hair, their hearts beating next to each other, a team.  
What could be minutes or hours later, when her breathing eventually slows and her eyes close, Steve carefully, cautiously, gets to his feet with her in his arms and heads over to the bed she had previously neglected. When he lays her down, her fist attaches to his shirt, pulling him to her.  
"Stay."  
The word comes quiet, croakily, from her dry lips. Steve can barely see her face for the hair that covers it, but he doesn't need to.  
"Of course." he says.  
He climbs into the bed next to Natasha, who is curled up into a ball. With his chest against her back, his arm falls around her once again, and he finds peace in her breathing, and the beating of her heart, both broken soldiers falling asleep content only with the presence of the other in this world full of darkness and pain.


End file.
